I left the next morning after the trek. I would have liked one full day at Inle lake, but with the water festival coming up I was lucky to get a bus at all. I went to Mandalay where the event would be biggest this year.
I had one day in Mandalay before the festival. I met up with some people from the hostel to see sunset from the Mandalay hill. It was a half an hour climb up the stairs with many temples on the way. From the top I had a great view of the city. Sunset itself was very red, but the sun disappeared early behind a cloud or some mist.
The next day I just explored the city, but then it was time to get the party started. It was impossible going out without getting wet. And wet really means absolutely soaked as if one had jumped into a pool with all clothes on. On almost every corner there was a group of kids and youths waiting with a bucket of water and sometimes a water hose.
In the center they had built up big stages where people could splash people with the water hoses. Cars would line up in enormous queues to get in front of the stages. There the youths standing on the cars could party to the loud music under the constant spray of water. I went in flip flops, but many had properly dressed up wearing fashionable shoes. It was crazy how the city was as dry as a desert one day and flooded the next. Kids were swimming in the drains and drunk adults cooled off in the puddles. It was a huge party and everyone was happy during these four days.
I did not stay in Mandalay for the complete water festival though. Buses were not available, but the hostel offered a shared taxi to Bagan. The first thing I did in Bagan was to book a bus to Yangon from where I would have a flight. I only went to the place next door, but decided to party with the people opposite who had put up a little stage. That day it also started raining, so after that I just dried up and stayed at the hostel.
The next day was dry so I could do what travellers do in Bagan. Together with a Chinese and a Polish guy we rented some scooters and just drove around. As the water festival had finished, we also wouldn't be splashed by kids anymore. With more than 3000 pagodas in the area there is enough to see. At some places you could even go up and have a view of the many other pagodas. These ancient temples were spectacular, but after a while they all looked the same to me. So the next day I relaxed at the hostel again.
Then that was already it in Myanmar. I enjoyed the country very much with its amazing pagodas and temples and its super friendly people. (Especially wearing the longyi) I got friendly smiles from people everywhere. And of course the festival was a party like I had never seen one before.
